Sanders Blog

22nd May, 2011

We are experiencing some lovely weather at the moment. It is warm = 23-4C / 72-3F – but not oppressive. Today we actually got round to cleaning the car for the first time since we arrived. I used to rely on Stavros’ car cleaner or pay to go to the petrol station and have the owner’s family clean it but last year I bought a pressure washer and now can do it at home.

After that, it was Sunday papers, lunch on the patio and then the Premiership relegation battle. Nova Satellite TV showed six matches all at the same time. I watched Man. Utd. for a little while but it was soon clear that Blackpool were out of their depth. I wanted Wolves to stay up after waiting so long to get up. I watched them for a while and was shocked as they went 3-0 down. I had a quick look at West Ham but I wanted them to go down anyway. I switched to Birmingham who I never thought deserved to go down this season and I am sorry that they have. I looked at Wigan who I thought probably deserved to go down. The other match shown was the Liverpool one but that didn’t have any importance.

23rd May, 2011

Overcast but warm today. We had to go to the Bank and Georgis, one of the clerks who I have known since we first went to Sifnos, 26 years ago, took photocopies of our new passports. Nothing can be done in Greece without your Identity Number if you are Greek or passport if you are not. That means everything from taking out a broadband contract, paying for satellite TV or buying tiles for your patio. The other thing you must do is call yourself something you are not. I am John Richard Eric Sanders and Pauline is Pauline Philip Sanders. Then Georgis reached under the counter and produced a copied of a book which, essentially, is a Greek language History of Sifnos. He hadn’t written it but he and his brother had paid for it to be published.

The National Bank of Greece illustrates all that is wrong with Greece at the moment. We went in to withdraw some cash – for that you go to Mikailis. He noted that our passport had changed since last October – for that we had to go to Georgis to update on their records. We also wanted to update our automatic payment threshold for the Electricity Company to draw on our Bank Account. For that we had to go to a young girl we hadn’t met before to update that record. Her name was Chrissopigi and when we gave her our papers, she said, “I remember now, SANDERS JOHN.” My husband, Nikos, was your electrician when your house was built.”

24th May, 2011

A gorgeous, sunny morning but rain is forecast over the next two or three days. The garden is really coming on well. It is at the maintenance stage. We are now up to cleaning the walls and tiled exterior, windows and shutters from the ravages of the winter, the red, mountain dust and the rain. The pressure washer has come in handy again for cleaning the tiled patio. Pauline is cleaning windows and shutters. There is a real pleasure in maintaining our property and having the time to keep it looking good.

25th May, 2011

Woke up before 7.00 am to the sounds of thunder. Opened the shutters to flashes of lightning.The time between the two got increasingly short until the inevitable happened. Joyous rain began to fall. No garden watering today. The rain became increasingly heavy on the flat roof and we could hear it gurgling down into our massive water storage chamber under the house. Everywhere was dark and grey as you can see from the photograph below.

The storm continued to rumble round the mountains for most of the morning. One minute the sun was out and the next, heavy clouds fell over the peaks announced by thunder and lightning and followed by strong bursts of rain.The garden screamed, ‘Thank you’. The water tank screamed, ‘Thank you’. I screamed, ‘Thank you’. Pauline screamed, ‘Get off my clean windows’.

We resolved to do indoor things this morning. Pauline is making bread. I am replying to emails and writing a couple of letters. This afternoon, we hope to go out to tour the island’s potteries – of which there are about ten – to buy a big pot to complete our patio set. We are looking for one like this:

By lunchtime, the skies are pure blue and the sun is giving us 25C/77F. We decided to drive down to the Blackpool of Sifnos – Platis Gialos (pronounced Plattiss Yalos). We call it Blackpool because it shamelessly caters for tourists with lots of Rooms to Rent, Restaurants and nothing else. We parked our car under the palm trees and walked on to the beach. We were surprised to see some people in the sea. They were mainly children but a white haired Granny like Ruth ventured in and seemed to cope so there might be hope for me. Pauline tested the water with her hands and declared it ready so swimming officially starts on Monday – depending on the weather.

26th May, 2011

Lovely morning. After breakfast, we do a few jobs outside, continuing to clean the red, mountain dust from the white, patio tiles and from the window frames and shutters. You have to pace yourselves when you’re retired, as Ruth will attest. As we were working, the island ambulance rushed to the port and then back up to the capital, Apollonia. This is not an everyday event and we were left wondering what had happened.

Found some old friends from College days by accident while on the internet. Julie and Nigel Folds were Art students while I was doing English but I found myself in Digs with Nigel who introduced me to the delights of red wine and Leonard Cohen. I borrowed Nigel’s bike to cycle to Harrogate Station from Ripon, some 14 miles wearing my suit at 5.00 am in July 1972 to get to Ruth’s wedding. I hadn’t ridden a bike for ten years before and I never rode one again. Nigel and Julie went to teach in Rochester and then Bingley. They split up shortly after that and Nigel became a Budhist monk somewhere in North Yorkshire. That is the last I heard of them until someone told me Julie had a facebook page. I found it and her living in Bridlington. She was exhibiting photographs. Then I found Nigel, also living in Bridlington, exhibiting paintings. Obviously, back together. Nigel & Julie are pictured below:

27th May, 2011

I took Pauline up to the Post Office this morning. As she got out of the car, I shouted, “Have you got your umbrella?” She looked at me as If I was bonkers. Two minutes later, she was running back to the car in pouring rain. Later, the woodman, Kostas, and his wife called. We had asked him to measure up for a solid roof for our pergola over the dining room patio. He brought his wife because she speaks perfect English and Kostas doesn’t speak any. We shared a glass of wine. They brought their 15 year old son, Giannis, who looked about 10 year’s old. We are told that we should go and look at the wood choices tomorrow at his wood store.

28th May, 2011

Today, we have been up to the woodman’s shop to finalise the arrangements. It will be done in about two weeks. We don’t know how much it will cost. As usual in Greece, you don’t get an estimate, which is why you choose honest tradespeople. As soon we arrived in the workshop, Kostas reached into a little fridge and brought out a bottle of raki and some goats cheese. He sent his son out for a fresh loaf of bread at the local shop. Soon he has cutting up bread, cheese and pouring raki. He found some taramasalata and we were standing around the wood shavings eating an early lunch. This is how they get away without providing an estimate!

Pauline spoke to her sister, Phyllis, who has been wonderful in supervising the ‘snagging list’ for our new flat. Phyllis and Colin went round the other day to check and said most things had been done. She also said the gardens and general environs were looking lovely and being well managed. This made us feel good because we really haven’t had time to properly assess our position. This afternoon, we will finish cleaning the patio and the windows before settling down for the Big Match.

15 May, 2011

Glorious Summer’s day. Not a cloud in the sky. Almost too hot to garden. We both had to wear hats. There is no breeze and the temperature is reaching 26C/78F. The house has been open to the world today to keep cool. The big news of the day, of course, is the Head of the IMF, Strauss-Kahn being arrested in US on rape charges. The Greeks feel  totally vindicated. They hate him with a passion and all he stands for. He is on Greek TV News bulletins all day every day and has been since the financial crisis broke. He is (was) the Leader of the Troika – International Monetary Fund, EEC and European Bank – who have tormented Greece for the past couple of years and, in their eyes, caused so much unjustified suffering to people who don’t deserve it. The fact that their main antagonist is actually a rapist just about confirms their view that they are unjustly oppressed like the Hotel maid. This will run and run.

The football, to bring us back down to earth had all the hallmarks of ‘after the Lord Mayor’s Show’. Chelsea were poor and Spurs managed to maintain their dignity. West Ham could have produced a magic trick but, instead, decided to hand one to Wigan.

For those who are anxiously following the gardening reports in this Blog, I continue to prick out salad seedlings and succession sow new ones. Tomorrow will be annual and perennial herbs – Flat Leaved Parsley, Tarragon, Sage and Mint. The Sweet Basil plants will be ready to plant out as will the Aubergines. The first potatoes are already showing through and the Peppers and Courgettes doing well.

The lemons are holding up. Another photo of them:

As predicted, Straus-Kahn dominates morning news on Greek television. If he can break the rules, why can’t we?, the Greeks say.

16th May, 2011

Another wonderful day. Glorious sunshine, blue skies. The countryside around is still green and beautiful. We are coming to the point when I will have to stop recording the weather unless we get particular highs or lows because “Another wonderful day. Glorious sunshine, blue skies.” Will become the norm for the next four months.

The day has been really enjoyable. We haven’t been out of our grounds but really enjoyed our gardening. We put in six large leaved Basil (Vasili) plants today and four strong Aubergines. More garden has been cleared. Lovely, home-made lunch of chicken and salad for lunch. This afternoon, joy of joys, our 3G internet service was reactivated. At last we can work from our Study at home. Life is just wonderful! AND ……I’ve just picked up Ruth’s email from LIVE.

On Saturday May 10th we will be moving to our new address.

We wish Ruth & Kevan 50 years of happiness at their new address.

17th May, 2011

Got up this morning to find a scuffle going on in the log burning stove. As I went to the glass door, two gorgeous, little, silver grey birds the size of wrens tweeted at me, Let us out! Who could argue with that. We had been meaning to cover the chimney with mesh for weeks but at least we had cleaned the fire out. Having just got out of bed, I was stark naked. I opened all the windows and doors, held a large towel up to the stove door and Pauline opened it. Good as gold the two little birds flew straight out of the window, free to play another day.

Quite a start to the morning but, now we have the internet, we can listen to Radio 4. At 8.00 am we put on the 6.00 am Today programme. What joy! When we first moved into this house, we were bought a pot – a Grecian Urn – as a present. Today, I got round to using it. After that, we went up the outside steps, which are really just decorative nowadays, with Pauline to stop all future birds playing in our chimney.

18th May, 2011

As you know, Dear Reader, I am as strange as the day is long. Late last evening, after going out to dinner, Pauline & I watched an enjoyable but emotional film about families, loves and relationships. I cried buckets as is usual now. Suddenly, as we went to bed, it came to me. If one of us died, we don’t have good photographs of the other. We photograph everything but ourselves. I told Pauline we were going to do something about that immediately. I opened a new folder called Posterity Photographs and took the first pictures. Here are Beauty & the Beast.

19th May, 2011

Woke up in the early hours of the morning to the sound of thunder & lightning and pouring rain. Got up with Pauline to watch the sound & light show across the bay. The noise over the roof meant it took some time to get back to sleep and we finally got up feeling tired after 8.00am this morning.

We went up to see the woodman, Kostas. He is the best on the island and his wife speaks perfect English which is really helpful. We want a more permanent cover to our pergola which, traditionally, in Greece is covered with bamboo matting but it is starting to fall out of favour. Bamboo attracts bees and over a few years of hot sun dries out and falls apart. We want thick, wooden slats painted white at and fixed closely together with only small gaps in between. It is important to have some gaps because the strength of the wind could pull a solid roof completely off and lift the pergola legs out of the concrete at the same time. The new roof will look a bit like this:

20th May, 2011

The weather is set fair to be mid-70Fs and lovely and sunny for the next week. Before we go out gardening, Pauline is making sausages this morning. They are one of the things you can’t buy here. A few years ago, Pauline received her Long Service Award from Oldham LA. She bought a couple of kilos of fatty pork yesterday. One of the things she bought with her Award was a meat mincer and sausage stuffer (As you do!) and we haven’t really had a lot of time to use it. We’ve brought extra big, Hog Skins with us and today is the day to stuff them. I am chief stuffer and taster.

Pauline made 5lbs of sausages. We had sausages for tea and they were absolutely wonderful. We are going to try Pork, Apple, Sage & Onion next time.

21st May, 2011

We have been here on the island for exactly five weeks. We filled the car up with petrol in Athens just before we got on the ferry and we have filled it up once on the island. Mind you, one filling did cost it €80.00. We will not need to fill up again for at least another week. A tank of petrol every three weeks is just amazing and illustrates how small the island is. Nowhere is very far away.

Received an email from Jonathan Kelly today. He is in Boston, Masachusetts and has been for 35 years. I have revived our friendship and have been communicating with him since Mum died. Unfortunately, I will miss his visit to England.

A scorching, hot day today. We have virtually completed the first round of garden clearing and vegetable sowing/planting. We have:

5 x rows of potatoes
2 x rows of shallots
3 x rows of onions
4 x courgette plants
6 x Sweet Basil plants
2 x rows of Rocket
2 x rows of Cut & Come Again Salad plants
4 x Aubergine plants
4 x rows of Salad/Spring Onions
2 x rows of Flat Leaved Parsley
2 x rows of French Beans

We have so many lemons on our trees, Pauline has decided to make Lemon Marmalade.

8th May, 2011

We’ve now been on the island for three weeks and away from UK for a month. You have to do it to understand that news from England, for me, becomes more not less important the longer we have been away. That is why I go to such lengths to get hold of newspapers. In the early days, it was queuing for hours outside some little shack, they laughingly called a newsagency, to get the only copy of ‘The Times’ which had been flown to Athens from London, transported down to Piraeus, put on a boat for five or so hours, picked up by van from the harbourside and dumped outside the shack where it sat until the owner deigned to turn up to open the ‘shop’. Even then, there would be an interminably long wait while this man, who couldn’t read anything but Greek, tried to decide if it was German or English and what price it should be sold at even though it was the same price every day. Each individual ‘foreign paper’ which would only be unpacked after the Greek papers had already been set out, had to be ticked off on the manifest as Greeks constantly interrupted to pay for their papers. I might have been waiting outside for two hours for the one copy of the day old Times but activity outside the shack will have alerted like-minded tourists like sharks to blood and Greek shopkeepers know no concept of queuing. They serve the first hand with money. Pauline & I got very skilled in ‘working’ the newspaper scene but still lost out on occasions. Then I would mooch around abjectly for hours wondering what the chattering classes in England were talking about, what had happened politically, where was that huge fire or that enormous motorway crash, that murder, etc.. Of course, over time, it has improved and now that we are on the island for longer periods than tourists, the shack man who has genuinely been upgraded to the newsagent, is prepared to save the newspaper for me in some nod of preferential treatment to an ‘almost resident’ but the papers are still at least one day out of date and in the Spring and Autumn months there may be a couple of days a week with no boat at all so the papers are even more out of date by the time I could get them.

Imagine, therefore, my delight when I drink my first cup of tea at 7.30 am to open the Kindle and find today’s paper has been delivered. It is revolutionary and wonderful. Nowadays, I have migrated to The Telegraph because of its better Business coverage. I take the political slant with a huge pinch of salt which makes me much more sceptical of the reporting and encourages me to read everything with a critical eye. The Telegraph is incredibly slanted in favour of Tory politics, conservative mores and monarchy. This slant is much easier to ‘read out’ than that of The Times so I am comfortable with my switch. Pauline tells me that the newsagent would charge €3.70 (Mon – Fri), €4.40 (Sat) & €5.00 (Sun). This works out at almost exactly £100.00 per month. The Telegraph delivered to the Kindle costs me £9.90 per month and its delivery is free. You will find it hard to understand my delight and incredulity at having this access on the morning of publication. Of course, nowadays, we have BBC News on Television and CNN plus Greek News channels but there is no substitute for a newspaper.

The other amazing thing about the change the Kindle has brought to our lives is on the internet. So far, we have been unable to get a telephone line in our house. Because of that, we have had to buy a 3G dongle from Cosmote. Reception is ok but not good and there are times when it is slow. Also, I am limited to 5Gb per month which I go close to all the time. It costs me about €35.00 per month which is not great but neither is the service. The Kindle is delivered over something called ‘Whispernet’ – an internet delivery service which works perfectly on this island. It always has strong signals unlike Cosmote. It is possible to web browse on the Kindle although it is a little cramped and in monochrome but it is an absolutely free service – all for the initial layout of about £120.00. An Apple i-pad would be useless to me here. I have no wi-fi and 3G charges would be exorbitant if I could get a connection. Kindle are currently developing and i-pad alternative which, if it uses Whispernet, would be ideal. In the meantime, I am grateful for huge mercies. I’m off to read the Sunday paper on Sunday.

Wonderful match between Wolves and West Brom this afternoon which I was pleased to see Wolves win. The second match was a little bit more prosaic but Stoke beat Arsenal well. The third game of the day was a total humiliation of Chelsea by Man Utd. What a delight to watch. Even so, I thought United’s goalkeeper was unbelievable. They couldn’t win at Wembley, could they???

9th May, 2011

Today we have planned our first trip to Athens since arriving.  In five weeks, it will be ten weeks since Pauline had her hair cut and, being a top model, she needs to keep her standards up. We have established a hairdresser for her opposite The Electra Palace Hotel. She used them once before. Today we used Skype to contact the Hotel and book two nights – June 14th and 15th – negotiating a preferential rate for ‘regular customers’ and then booked a hair appointment for Pauline with a ‘Top Stylist’ (for a top model) on Thursday 16th in the morning.  We will leave Sifnos on a ferry at around 11.50 am and get to Piraeus at 5.20 pm. On Wednesday, we will take a taxi to the French B&Q –  Leroy Merlin – to look at one or two things including sun lounger chairs then go over the road to an electrical store, Kotsovolos (owned by Dixons) to look at a new fridge/freezer.  After Pauline’s hair appointment at 10.00 am on Thursday, we will check out of the hotel and take the train back down to Piraeus for a 2.30 pm hydrofoil which will get us back to Sifnos for 5.30 pm. That will be an enjoyable little jaunt.

In the middle of the morning, we went off to see our friends at their home which they have almost built with their bare hands from the raw materials on their land. The walls of the house are built using stone dug out of the land it stands on. The furniture is designed and built out of wood from the trees on their land. They are strongly tied to the philosophy of sympathy with the natural materials and the place in which they are living. It is a common philosophy on this island and I think across Greece that building should be in sympathy with nature and not intrusive upon it or in stark contrast to it. Although I do not subscribe to this philosophy myself, I found their house delightful. They have invited us back on Thursday afternoon for a barbecue. Pauline will make a lemon meringue pie using our lemons to take with us.

10th May, 2011

Today we are going to see an accountant. His profession as Accountant is pronounced Loyeestees but is just the word we use in English – Logistics. We have virtually no payments apart from electricity and food, Satellite TV and internet connection to make in Greece. There is no income tax for us, no Council tax (That is payed by shopkeepers for everyone.) All police, street lighting, refuse clearance, road maintenance, etc is free to us. We don’t have to pay for water because we have our own source. In the past three or four years, Greece has introduced a property tax which costs us about €150.00 per year but the form is so complicated, everyone has to have a loyeestees to fill it out and submit it to the Government.

What an interesting experience that was. We were told to go to the second house on the right on the road down to Kastro. That’s what we did but it turned out to be an architect. We were a bit embarrassed about disturbing him but he was very pleasant, spoke a little English and was on his way to the accountant’s office so he took us there himself. It turns out that we have no more tax to pay which is wonderful. Also, after six years of asking, our electricity supply may become ‘official’ within the next twelve months or so. If they move any faster, we’ll never keep up!

After Lamb Filo Parcels & Greek Salad with a beer outside in the sunshine, we felt very tired and had a snooze while watching a Greek Cookery programme. Soon it was 4.00 pm and we thought we had better do some gardening. Our pepper plants are ready for planting out – about 10” high. In fact one has already started fruiting. The planting method is to dig large holes, put well rotted manure that Apostolis delivered from his farm two years ago at the bottom followed by some commercial compost and garden soil. The plant must be sunk in a ‘bowl’ shape of soil so that watering doesn’t run off but goes straight down to the roots before the sun can evaporate it. We hope that younger readers will not become too impatient with our techniques. Gardening is a specialism for those who have entered the retirement home of life. We have time but the pace is slower. All things come to fruition if not rushed.

The world around is still smothered in wild flowers because of the rain. This time last year we were going through a heat wave and all vegetation had been burned off. The first photo shows the scene from our bedroom window. The other two are at the end of the garage.

11th May, 2011

Cool quiet day today. 20F and General Strike – No ferries, schools, Post Office, Banks, Hospitals, Trains, Buses, etc. The supermarket was open so we went shopping, read the newspaper and had lunch. After that, Pauline made bread and biscuits while I did some writing and some gardening. Heavy rain is forecast for tomorrow. We have been invited to a barbecue. We’ll see!

12th May, 2011

We woke to blue skies, fleecy, white clouds, a bit of a sharp breeze and a chilly temperature of 18C. I don’t think we will have heavy rain or any rain today. I go into the garden to water the plants as we will be out for most of the afternoon. Yesterday, the General Strike saw thousands of workers in the streets of Athens protesting with rocks to throw at the police who retaliated with tear gas. On the surface, it doesn’t appear to get any better. However, last year I spoke to a young man about the economic situation. He was full of left wing, communist bravado. The troubles were all of the making of the rich elite but those who had to pay were the poor, little people like him.They would not. They would get rid of this Government and refuse to pay these debts. I came away thinking, ‘There is no hope.’. A few days ago – nearly a year on – I spoke to the same young man again and was surprised how his view had moderated. ‘This is still a big problem but we must get out of it. I don’t know how – perhaps we will all have to pay. We must do it together.’ Maybe there will be enough Greeks like him to make the difference. Unfortunately, Samaras, the Leader of the Opposition New Democracy Party appears to be cultivating cheap popularity by chiming with the protesters.

Before we went to our friends’ house for the barbecue, I picked three, fat and juicy lemons and Pauline made a Lemon Meringue Pie. It looked fantastic. We had to carry it rather gingerly in the car along with a couple of bottles of wine. When we got there, the barbecue was a beautiful, brick built bread/pizza oven with open motorised, spit driven barbecue area attached. Four chickens had been turning on the spit for hours before we arrived. Salad was hurriedly made, rusk bread chopped up and a long table covered in white cloth. We had three, lovely, homely hours eating, drinking and discussing the politics of Greece.

One of the things that we came away from our barbecue discussions with was a much better understanding of why the Greeks are so intransigent. You may have read that many Greek Government employees receive more payments than there are months in the year. The thirteenth monthly salary has been expected and paid for years. This doesn’t play well in Europe but, as they pointed out, this was started by the Government as a way of not officially increasing wage rates. They paid an extra month’s salary for holiday pay. As he also pointed out, thirteen months pay in Greece was equal to eight or nine month’s pay in UK. In just the same way, the Greeks cheat on tax because of the frenzied and uncontrolled way the Government attempts to levy it. Tax inspectors will swoop on their restaurant three or four times a year and just arbitrarily demand a certain payment. If you ask, ‘Why?’, they say that they will stay for days and go through their books so they just pay. They don’t know where the money, paid in cash, is going. On one occasion, the radio was playing in the restaurant so the tax inspector demanded money for Royalties. When it was pointed out that all the people singing were now dead, the tax inspector threatened to investigate them further. In other words, they were arguing that a corrupt system was inevitably sucking them in. The trouble is, it doesn’t seem to be a way out of this.

13th May, 2011

We’ve had a really lazy day today and we both feel guilty. It is symptomatic of early retirement. We told ourselves that we must continue to have aims, ambitions, plans to achieve and, largely, we have. We wake at 7.00 am and are up by 7.30 am every day. We set ourselves tasks to get through just as we would at work. Over the past two years, so much has happened that it hasn’t been difficult to motivate ourselves. Today we had a apathetic day and we both feel that we have let ourselves down. Tomorrow we will try harder and do more before the football: the Man. Utd. game and then the Cup Final.Oh, Life is so tough!

14th May, 2011

Yesterday was a cool 21C/70F. Today is set to be a couple of degrees warmer.It is a lovely, sunny day with not a breath of wind. Readers will be pleased to hear that Peppers and Courgettes are growing well. Salad seedlings are developing as are Onions and Potatoes. About this time of year we start to panic about the enormity of work required to maintain two homes – clearing the garden, cleaning the windows, painting the gate, refreshing the walls, etc, etc, etc. We look at each other and say, ‘Shall we sell it?’ and then we analyse what actually has to be done, get our heads down and get on with it. After all, what else would we do? You know of the politician who accused his election opponent of going round stirring up apathy. I think he’s been here.

1st May, 2011

Happy May. Grey morning that got better as the day developed. Not warm – maximum 70F/21C. After breakfast of hot porridge, we did garden clearing until lunchtime. Not that lunch was anything more than a Greek Salad but I knew that the afternoon would be dominated by football. The seed potatoes and onions will have to go in over the next couple of days so that is the first task to clear for. The plants I bought – peppers, courgetttes and aubergines – and potted up are developing strongly. They will have to go out very soon to get the full growing season.

Although the day developed into a pleasantly warm and sunny one, I watched three or four football matches from Birmingham, from Liverpool, from Manchester City and from Arsenal and the weather looked wonderful with lovely, striped pitches bathed in strong sunlight surrounded by shirt sleeved crowds. I was reading in the paper that April has been the warmest in UK since 1765 and very nearly the driest. Here, it has been an exceptionally cold, wet Easter compared with at least the last ten.

2nd May, 2011

Up early to a lovely sunny day. Now we know why the Royal Honeymoon has been cancelled. A mission to get Bin Laden was announced this morning as having been successful. Amazing to see crowds screaming with delight about a wedding one day and about a death two days later. Neither will impact my life much. Got Mum on my mind quite a bit at the moment.I’ve got to get on with life. More garden clearing this morning and then off to the Post Office to see if we have any letters.

The Post Office in Sifnos – Taxidromeo – is the most pathetic in the known world. Nothing is sorted, nothing is delivered. Everything is piled up for people to queue up and go through themselves. You could take anyone’s post and they wouldn’t know. We asked a week ago if they had our back mail for the last six months. They went to the back of a dirty, untidy, old office and, within five minutes, came back to say Ochi/No. Today we tried again. This time we wrote cue cards with our address on. After twenty minutes, the girl came back with a pile of post, including a Christmas card from my friend, Caroline, in Saddleworth. We had confirmation of electricity bills which we have paid automatically by our Greek Bank. They are remarkably low considering everything we do uses electricity except for our log burning stove. The heating is electrical, underfloor. We have electricity for cooling through fans and air conditioning, cooking is electric and we dry clothes with a tumble dryer. €500.00 for six months seems quite good. The only piece of post we didn’t have was our house tax. This is newly introduced and costs us about €125.00 per year. Unfortunately, the form you have to submit is so complicated that we need an accountant to do it. We are going to get a visit from Stavros’ accountant who will submit the form for us.

3rd May

Summer has really arrived here. This is the second day that we don’t need the central heating. The daytime peak is 75F/24C but what is different about Greece, the night time temperature doesn’t now fall below 70F/21C. We have a small diurnal range, as they say. Our water pump has been sounding iffy so we sent for the plumber. We have a blocked tap and another that has come loose so we thought he could do everything in one go. The plumber is a massive man who is known as the strongest man on Sifnos but he seems to be able to curl his massive frame under toilets and into kitchen cabinets without trouble. He doesn’t speak a word of English so, when he arrived at lunchtime (2.00 pm), he looked at the job and mimed he would be back at 5.00 pm or around there, as he fluttered his hand from side to side. We did a couple of hours garden clearing and waited for the plumber. At 6.00 pm he appeared and within an hour had done all of the jobs. He didn’t want to be paid but we gave him €20.00 he went off happily.

Will Mourinho end up in jail again tonight like in the first leg? We’ll see.

Well, it was quite a good game but the result was predictable. I think United will be hard pushed to beat them.

Got a wonderful text from Ruth tonight. She called me a ‘Chump’ which is a lovely word that I haven’t heard for about 50 years but she’s probably right.

4th May, 2011

Off to the hardware shop this morning to buy a small piece of fine mesh wire netting. It is bird nesting time and last year  a little bird fell down our log burning stove chimney while investigating holes. We need to cover it temporarily because we can’t face the trauma of releasing little birds into our living room.The rest of the day will be spent gardening and sowing seeds. United’s match tonight should be a formality. Sunday is the big one. The hardware shop was busy but we managed to get a snippet of mesh to put over our stove pipe. We did some supermarket shopping = enough white fish for six meals, enough fresh chicken for about six meals and some fresh vegetables – broccoli, cauiflower, Cyprus potatoes. You learn when the ferries are in and when the new produce will be put out and to buy stuff in bulk and freeze it. We are expecting a General Strike soon that could affect everything. Talking about everything, we are expecting rolling petrol supply strikes soon which should be fun but could save us money because we are paying £1.57 per litre.

Man. Utd completely out played Shalke and now have to plot a way to beat Barcelona at Wembley. I don’t really fancy their chances.

5th May, 2011

Today has been a nice, warm, quiet day. We put in seed potatoes, seed onions and shallots.

We check our bank account regularly on the internet and today was pension day. While Teachers’ pay has been frozen since we left, our Teachers’ Pension has been rising with inflation. The increase is not great but it is better than working. Today our pension had risen by just over 3% which may only keep pace with inflation but is better then any working teacher is getting.

Thought you might like to see a picture of Sifnos in the Spring taken by my friend, Martin.

6th May, 2011

Woken up this morning and the weather has gone back to winter. It feels really cold and there are grey clouds above. The weather forecaster says it is a “phenomenon” and the bad weather is rolling round and round the Greek Islands not being able to escape. I know the feeling.

We’ve just heard that the threatened petrol strike is off. The Government ruled that it was ‘illegal’ and so everyone has continued to work. Simples.

7th May, 2011

The BBC is reporting today a rumour that Greece has floated the idea of leaving the Euro. It is the one thing that could really hurt us financially when we sell this property. It is hard to believe that the rest of Europe really want that because of the threats it would increase on Ireland, Portugal and Spain going the same way leading to the collapse of the great, European project.

24th April, 2011

Easter Sunday. Everywhere is closed apart from our minds. From midnight the island became alive with church bells ringing, fireworks shooting and bursting illumination across the mountains to major explosions blowing up Kamares beach with a white light flash that, after the delay, shook the very ground we stood on almost a kilometre away and boomed across the valley and rolled around the mountains for seconds afterwards. Greeks drove home to their houses from shaking hands and ritually greeting each other with: Christe elaison (Christ is risen.) to eat a midnight meat feast which they were supposed to be denying themselves for the past forty days. I can assure you they haven’t been but who really cares what Christmas is about or Easter? Pauline and I went outside on to our terrace to watch and listen to Greek frenzy of celebration and then escaped the freezing night air to drink a hot cup of tea before bed.

We got up very late this morning after going to bed late last night. It was almost 9.00 am before our tea and toast for breakfast. The Sunday Telegraph had been delivered to my Kindle. I wish I’d ordered The Times now. It might be less obsessed with Royalty and Weddings. I’m going to be sowing salad and bean seeds today and then I’ve got Arsenal v Bolton to look forward to. I’m relying on Ruth to come up trumps.

Of course, like all the best sisters, Ruth has done it for me again. Bolton beat Arsenal in the last few minutes and almost produced an impossible response from me – I began to feel sorry for Arsene Wenger.

It was lovely to be sitting in my Greek house and to receive texts from Ruth about the result. Thirty years ago, we queued up for half an hour to use one of the two telephones on the island to ring out of Greece only to find all international lines were busy. Now I can conduct a virtual conversation with a strange woman in Bolton from my lounge.

25th April, 2011

Easter Monday is going home day in Greece. All that fuss, all that preparation and all that excitement and, by Monday afternoon, the ferries are arriving to take them back to Athens and work (or striking) on Tuesday. It’s a bit like Christmas without Boxing Day.

We had a pleasant morning reading and baking bread as the sun streamed in. At 2.00 pm, we went down to Captain Andrea’s Fish Taverna for lunch. Captain Andrea is now dead. He was ‘The Man’ when we first came to Sifnos. His wife, Poppie, ran the restaurant like a military operation while he, having been out all night on the high seas, lounged around drinking coffee. Now his son, Andreas, who was only 10 when we first arrived, is Mayor of Sifnos. It is Andreas we have to cultivate to provide us with a telephone line because he also works for the telephone company.We had a lovely meal although, ironically, not of fish. Easter in Greece is a time for meat. We had Greek Salad, Tsatziki, Roast Mastello (goat) and potatoes. We washed it down with a litre of House Red and were then given Easter cake for our sweet.

Later in the evening, I watched an enjoyable match in which Man. City beat Blackburn. I would like to see City pushing United to new heights next year. I’ll be sorry to see Tevez go though.

26th April, 2011

Pleasant but chilly morning. Went up to the Supermarket for basic commodities and then came back to read the paper on the Kindle. Royal Wedding mania is beginning to dominate news media of all countries – The Daily Telegraph, The BBC, CNN and the Greek television. Even here, it will be difficult to avoid.

In addition to 100 Kg of ‘stuff’ that we posted by Parcelforce, we brought a hell of a lot as well. This included five, huge, pictures by Alma Tadema which we have no room for in our new apartment and which have a vaguely neo-Greek, neo-Classical, Mediterranean scene and would look fine in our Greek house. Each one is 3ft x 2ft -ish and will happily help to furnish our huge, stark, white Cycladic walls. Today, it was my job to put them up and, in years gone past, it would have taken me all day, agonising over spacing and heights, etc.. I’ve put so many up in the past ten years, I was amazed to find all five took me less than twenty minutes and I didn’t need a stiff drink in between.

Watched Man. Utd. totally embarrass the Germans – Schalke – and, just as the game finished, thunder & lightening began to spark round the mountains.

27th April, 2011

Torrential rain, thunder & lightening roared intermittently all night. It is not unheard of at this time of the year but it is not common. We lay in bed listening to the gallons of water fall on our flat roof and down into the massive water tank below. We will have soft water for some time to come.

Mum died exactly three years ago today. I still miss her dreadfully although, it is true to say that the pain is dulled somewhat. She is in my thoughts on a regular basis, in conversations, arguments in my head. I spent 57 years trying to shake off the yoke of her authority and the last three learning to live with my own. The sense of loss has only been exacerbated by the death of Pauline’s Mum which Pauline has borne with such stoicism set against my incontinent emotions. Neither of us feels anything exists beyond ourselves. We belong nowhere and to no one than each other. It is a strange and lonely feeling yet incredibly liberating. What to do with that freedom?

Well, tonight I’m going to watch Barcelona v Real Madrid in the next Champions League semi-final. I would like to see Real at Wembley. When the game actually came on TV, it was 10.00 pm in Greece which is really too late. It finished at nearly midnight and was a strangely tempestuous affair. It seemeed to me that Barcelona were mainly at fault but that might just be my perspective. Admittedly, Messi’s goal to bring 0-2 was very good.

I have decided to cheat in the garden a little this year. Instead of growing everything from seed, I have decided to buy some vegetable plants. I have red and green peppers, aubergines and courgettes in small plant form to give myself a head start and I’ve been potting them up this afternoon. It isn’t terribly warm and is still just under 70F but we have to get started. Unfortunately, the wet weather is holding up my clearing of the vegetable patch which still looks like this.

I am still having trouble with my internet connection and I am having to steal connections wherever I can until Cosmote reinstate my dongle. For that reason, don’t expect a perfect service for a little while.

28th April, 2011

A quiet, cool night but we awoke to the sound of torrential rain. We had to turn the central heating up. It is very dark. Rain clouds falling over the mountain. After porridge for breakfast, we decided it was just too horrible to go out and settled down to reading – the paper for me and her novel for Pauline.

When the rain has cleared and the sun has come out – about 1.00 pm – I turn to sowing seeds of salad, beetroot, herbs like tarragon and parsley. Pauline starts pulling up weeds in the veg. patch.

Watched a biopic of Edith Piaf this evening after dinner of pork and roast vegetables. What a hard life some people are born into and live. How lucky are we!

29th April, 2011

Amazingly, it didn’t rain last night but it was still cold this morning until the sun came up. Our underfloor heating is really repaying Pauline’s confidence in it. What do you think we did today. Absolutely opposed to religion and to Monarchy, we watched the Royal Wedding. Admittedly, there was little choice because it dominated BBC, CNN and every Greek Television channel you could find. I read my paper but kept an eye open for the TV. Even I was pleased to see the weather stayed dry on a big, British spectacular.

Went out for dinner tonight to the restaurant run by Panos & Rania and their serf (chef), Anna. In the winter (which they still consider it here), the menu is restricted.  We went to see Panos & Rania – lovely, genuine, island people who open their hearts and their homes to people in true Greek style. I, for example, am having problems re-establishing my internet provision. I am have to wait for a courier to bring a new contract from the provider, Cosmote, to me in Sifnos before I can be reconnected. There is an island, free service but it doesn’t reach our house. I have to drive down to the beach, sit in the car with my laptop to get a reasonable connection. Panos & Rania immediately said I could use theirs in the restaurant which “is never locked. It’s wireless; just walk in and use it any time.” That is how wonderfully genuine true Greeks are.

30th April, 2011

Today, we are off to the cafe to see Christos. He and his wife moved in to their new house over the winter and had their first baby. We are going to have a cup of coffee at the cafe and arrange to go up and see their new house and baby.

After that, we are off to the garden centre to buy a few more young plants – melons and field cucumbers hopefully. This afternoon I am going to do something very unusual – support Spurs. Even a draw against Chelsea would be alright.

17th April, 2011

Woke up to rain in Sifnos this morning. Still tired after the journey. Watched some good football on TV. Went out to eat at Simos restaurant. Went to bed very early.

18th April, 2011

Got up early, feeling so much more rested. Went up to the Post Office to find our 5 boxes containing 100 kilos of ‘stuff’ had arrived. Carried it back down to the house and spent the morning unpacking everything. Went out for lunch at 2.00 pm to Myropi restaurant. Lovely lunch and wine. Drove home and fell asleep. Later found that Sifnos had installed an island wide internet connection ‘free’ and we are just on the usable edge of it. It will probably be stretched to the limits when the tourists arrive but, for now, it is good. Feeling sorry for Ruth after Bolton’s game.

19th April, 2011

Up early to a freezing cold morning. Had to turn the underflooor heating up. Lots to do today. After breakfast of tea, toast and jam, we are off to the medical testing centre to have my Anti-coag. test. Then we are going to the mobile phone shop to cancel my dongle contract because Sifnos seems to be providing broadband free. Then, on to the ‘Garden Centre’ for growbags and to see if they have pepper, melon and tomato plants.

20th April, 2011

Bitterly cold, wet and with gale force winds. Our Underfloor heating has been on since we arrived. All day and all night. The only decision has been whether to turn it up from constant 21C / 70F to 24C / 76F or back down again depending on the time of day. It is amusing to read that UK is basking in a barbecue Summer in April and that the beaches are so busy. Here, we are wondering if people will arrive for Easter celebrations because the strong winds are threatening boat sailings. Each morning starts with toast and tea at around 7.30 am, the BBC News, the Greek News and opening up the Kindle to find that The daily Telegraph has been delivered. It has revolutionised life already. I don’t have to wait until the 10.30 am boat has come in – if it does. I don’t have to wait for the van to roll off the boat and up to the papershop. I don’t have to wait until all the Greek papers have been unpacked, checked and counted and put out on to the shelves. Particularly, I don’t have to buy a day-late newspaper. I don’t even have to pay nearly £3.00 for it. Now, I get today’s newspaper at 8.00 am (Greek Time) / 6.00 am (UK Time) and it cost me £10.00 per month for newspapers that would normally cost £92.00.

Watched Arsenal – Spurs match tonight. It was a classic. I absolutely loved it and, to add to the pleasure, Arsenal only got one point. Surely United can’t lose the title now.

21st April, 2011

It is still very cold and windy but, at least, it is drier. The Greeks regret this because we are looking at the last rains until October now. After morning routines have been gone through, we get a visit from Margharita – Stavros’ Mother – who has come up to the house with a bowl of freshly cooked Gigantis or big bean soup. She once cooked it for me and I over expressed my appreciation of the dish. Now, every time we return to the island, we regularly get a dish of Gigantis.

After Margharita has gone, we drive up to the supermarket which will be closed for three days over Easter and we have to make sure we have enough food. We buy a fresh chicken for tonight (2 kilos – €5.00), Cyprus potatoes and lots of vegetables. We go to the ‘Garden Centre’ to buy a plant fot Margharita for Easter. We get a hydrangea and some plants for us – a couple of large Pelargoniums, some seedling red peppers, courgettes and aubergines. I will grow some from seed but I would like to have a few producing early. We drive back down to Kamares to visit Apostolis & Moshca for lamb. We buy effectively a lamb at €7.50 per kilo. We buy about 5.5 kilos in two legs and two shoulders.We will have roast lamb with onions, garlic and the rosemary and thyme growing round the house. The cold lamb will be used to make filo pastry parcels.The first lamb joint will be for tomorrow. Today we have half a chicken still to eat. I cooked it with lemons from our trees. We must have about 50 lemons on the trees this Spring. Tempting though it is to pick them, they remain perfect on the trees for a long time so we pick them when we need them. Pauline made a lemon tart yesterday to eat with whipped cream. It only took three lemons and it was absolutely delicious. After dinner tonight, we watched a film. We have a DVD/VHS player hooked up to our TV and we have an entire library of unwatched films – recorded from TV or bought in UK – which we rarely watch. Tonight Pauline chose ‘In Her Shoes’ featuring Cameron Diaz & Shirley Maclaine. You might call it a girl’s film but I enjoyed it. It centred around a dysfunctional family so I felt I understood its terms of reference.

22nd April, 2011

Today is bright and breezy and about 70F which feels cool here. We have had an in-day. Pauline has made bread. I have been taking some photos for the Blog and the Website. Everywhere is green and carpeted with wild flowers. There has been so much rain in Greece this winter, everything has grown a lot – apart from the economy.

Greek TV is dominated by Easter or Pascha as they call it here. Mainly it is about the ‘Exodus’ or ‘leaving Athens’ for one’s island home to celebrate with family. The UK press is dominated by petrol prices for people going out on day trips. The Greek press has just the same preoccupation for those driving across Greece and getting on Ferries.The price of petrol on the island is about €1.80 or £1.58 per litre. When we left Woking, we were paying £1.31. The TV news is dominated by pictures of petrol stations, people queuing in cars on roads to get through the tolls, cars queuing at Piraeus to get on ferries and then by meat prices in the markets of Athens. Everybody has to spit roast a lamb or goat for Easter. The price has gone up again just as their wages are going down. There is huge unemployment in Greece now and they are really hurting.

23rd April, 2011

Greece is now officially closed. The last boats have left Piraeus. They will arrive at the island by 2.00 pm and there will be no more movement until Tuesday. The shops on the island close at 2.00 pm and will not re-open until Tuesday. Greek television will show church services and wall to wall Hollywood biblical blockbusters that will blaze away in the corner of every living room completely ignored by all concerned as they prepare to feast and forget the economy.We feel complete outsiders but not unhappy for that. This afternoon, I will watch three Premiership football matches starting with Man. Utd. – Everton. Rooooneeeyey!

10th April, 2011

The start of the next adventure. At 11.00 am, we are taking Phyllis & Colin down to our new apartment because we will need their help while we are away. We would like them to

• call occasionally to clear post.
• supervise the fitting of the burglar alarm which still hasn’t been done.
• check that the ‘snagging list’ has been completed.
• occasionally check security.

At 2.00 pm we are off to Ashford and the adventure really begins. We are off to the Tunnel at 5.00 am for a 6.20 am crossing. Hope the weather we are currently experiencing continues. Blue skies and gorgeous warm sunshine still prevail.

Having said goodbye to Phyllis & Colin and thanked them for all they have done for us over the past few months, we drove down to the Ashford Travelodge. It was even more average than it looks but we were only staying a few hours. We went to bed at 9.00 pm.

11th April, 2011

Up at 4.00 am and, after shower and a cup of tea, we drive down to The Tunnel. Plenty of people booked in for the 6.20 am shuttle which, in the nascent daylight, leaves right on time.

As we emerge from the darkness of the tunnel to the daylight, it is obviously another gorgeous day in prospect. We begin our journey at 8.00 am Central European Time. It is a new journey for us with new motorways and it soon proves to be so much better than the route we have taken from Zeebrugge for the past eleven years. France is warm, sunny and totally empty.

We stopped in a scruffy little town called Woippy near Metz for lunch and to raid the local Auchan for wine. We buy our first tranche of wine for the six months away. I had already warned Mastercard of this activity in case they took fright and stopped my card.

We drive on to Mulhouse and to the Holiday Inn we had booked there. It turned out to be fantastic with a lovely room and a brilliant restaurant.

12th April, 2011

After eating too much in the wonderful restaurant, we had quite a fitful sleep, got up quite early and, after a shower and a cup of tea, we were on the road before 9.00 am. Unfortunately, it started to rain as we left the hotel and went to the car. The first hour’s driving was not particularly pleasant with heavy rain, standing water, spray from the heavy lorries and narrowed lanes and roadworks across Switzerland. We have always hated Switzerland. They charge 35 euros vignette to drive on their motorway system which is in the worst condition in Europe and then they close half of it with orange ‘temporary’ lines which scarily narrow the lanes down to the width of a gnat’s whisker. The temporary markings have only been there for eleven years as far as we know. The only improvement is that we are now driving it in daylight so we can see what an eyesore it is.

Anyway, descending rapidly through the wet, snowless alps into Italy, the weather miraculously changed to clear blue skies and strong sun. The temperature rose to 27C / 81F and all was right with the world. We found our Holiday Inn in Parma – another lovely hotel although you wouldn’t think so from the outside.

We over ate in the wonderful restaurant and then staggered out to watch Man. Utd. humiliate Chelsea. I was so happy and full.

13th April, 2011

Had another fitful night because I had eaten too much but got up and had breakfast today. There is something about Italy makes you want to eat.

I had structured the journey so we did 7 hours on our first day, 5 hours on our second day and 3 hours on our third day. It all meant I could keep my speed in the 80 – 100 mph which is a little more comfortable and less likely to be picked up by local police. In fact, in the whole of our journey, we only saw a couple of police and they weren’t interested in us. We did the last three hours down to Ancona, drove to the check-in office and then on to the port dock. By 1.30 pm were were boarding Anek Lines ferry, Hellenic Spirit.

We were shown to our De-Luxe cabin which has a large porthole, air conditioning, television with Greek and Italian programmes,  a double bed, table and chairs, fridge with complimentary wine and bathroom with toilet and shower. Mrs Bouquet would have loved it!

We put our watches forward another hour to Eastern European Time and opened the wine. After we’d drunk it, we went to the restaurant for dinner. Our first Greek salad of the year is always the best. It accompanied pork fillet and potatoes and a nice bottle of red wine. We went back to our cabin to watch television for an hour or so and, particularly, the weather. It all looks set fine for our crossing on Saturday to Sifnos. Strong winds are the danger that lead to boats being cancelled.

14th April, 2011

We had rather a fitful night having eaten too much and there was a bit of roll on the ferry. We woke up in time to see it dock at Igoumenitsa on the Greek mainland opposite Corfu and just below Albania. It looks a beautiful place, covered in trees. It is well know for its coastal fish farms which supply British supermarkets with Sea Bream & Bass, etc.. Here a lot of Albanians and Turks who work in Greece get off the boat to drive home for Easter.

After bacon & egg breakfast which was free because we had a De-luxe cabin, we read the paper on our Kindle and watched Greek news on television until a knock came on the door, asking us to vacate our cabin so it could be cleaned. We went out to a wi-fi area and I tried to bring my blog up to date. Unfortunately, the satellite signal was so weak, I only succeeded in deleting almost my entire week’s Blog so, if you read it day by day, you will notice it has almost completely been rewritten. Our hotel in Patras has free, superfast broadband.

We rolled off the ferry about an hour late at 3.00 pm and drove across the road to our hotel – The Patras Palace – which we have used for ten of the twelve trips we have driven to Greece. It is delightful with large, richly appointed rooms and private parking in secure grounds. This is particularly important because bands of illegal immigrants roam the port fences just waiting for their chance to slip into the back of a lorry, the boot of a car or even under the back axle. They hope to get on a boat to Italy. As we look out from our expensive hotel balcony, we see these ragamuffins lined up against the fence eyeing up an opportunity. We feel sorry for them but not that sorry. They put in enormous efforts to get to the West. They take enormous risks to get to the West. They should stay in their own countries and invest that enormous effort and appetite for risk in making their own lands fit for a good life.

Looking beyond the immigrants, we see this:

15th April, 2011

This morning we got up in leisurely fashion. I didn’t get out of bed until 8.00 am. After a huge and leisurely breakfast of toast & coffee, bacon & eggs in the roof-top restaurant, we have returned to our room to make telephone calls – using Skype – and Pauline brings her accounts up to date while I bring my Blog and website up to date.

We listen to Radio 4 all morning as ferries come in from Italy and bands of immigrants get increasingly excited. Police and army men stroll lazily around the sensitive, docking areas but immigrants are not really afraid of arrest because they are never arrested. To do so would mean far too much effort and expense housing detainees, processing and deporting them. The immigrants know this. The police and army just chase them behind the barbed wire barrier knowing that they will return again and again as soon as their backs are turned.

16th April, 2011

The Hydrofoil, – Speedrunner – leaves at 7.30 am and it takes 3 hrs to drive from Patras to Piraeus. We will check out at 3.00 am because we cannot afford to miss it. We will arrive at Kamares port, Sifnos at around 11.00 am. We will see our house for the first time in six months.

There will then be a short hiatus before we can achieve internet connection again. It may take two or three days.

3rd April, 2011

D-Day! I don’t know what the D stands for in this case but we have spent the day – after the Sunday papers – packing up our possessions ready for removal tomorrow. The removal men are arriving at 6.00 am on Monday morning. Pauline cleaned the oven ready for the hand-over and so we had to send for pizzas for tea.

Received an email from Jane:

I hope you have a lovely birthday. 60 should not pass unmarked so hope you have interesting plans. Travel safely and enjoy Greece.

 Jane

and one from Ruth:

I enjoyed the cricket final India were the better side !Utd escaped once again ! Will miss you when youre away for six months…..where will you be on your birthday ??  Ruthie xxx

Went to bed at 9.00 pm and set the radio-alarm for 4.45 am. Just as well because (read on) ………..

4th April, 2011

The removal men arrived at 5.45 am. We had just showered, downed a cup of tea and dismantled the bed when the lorry pulled up outside. Our first thought was that it wouldn’t all fit into what looked like a glorified white van but, apparently, that is the most common concern and it all went in easily.

The van set straight off for Surrey and we thought that we had plenty of time to get there before it. We packed our car, went down to Sainsburys for sweets and petrol and then set off. At times we touched nearly double the speed limit which you’ll be aware is only advisory and there more as a challenge than to be adhered to. Occasionally, we say to each other, “I wonder how far back the van is now?” and laugh. Suddenly, after 150 miles, we found ourselves overtaking the removal van. We couldn’t believe it. After four hours,we did just arrive at the apartment ahead of them but only just. They downed a mug of coffee, emptied the van, downed another mug of coffee and set off back to Huddersfield.

We slumped, shattered and read the paper.

Received an email from Caroline:

Many happy returns for your 60th on Wednesday 6th, I am not sure where or what you will doing for your birthday so I thought I would send this now. I am sure you will be enjoying a gorgeous meal and wine and celebrating this milestone. It is hard to believe that you are 60, retired and moving to the south.

I am down 3 and half stone since I got diagnosed type 2 diabetic last August and a tea totaller now. The attached picture is me and Barney Rubble wishing you a happy birthday from the river at the bottom of our garden, Les was taking the photo but says happy birthday too.

Good luck in your new home in the south.
Love Cal x

5th April, 2011

Today, we woke up to lovely sunshine in Surrey and, after a cup of tea, we nipped down to our new apartment before setting off once again for Huddersfield. The site team had warned us of delays on the M25 but our sat. nav. soon flashed up that there was a complete ‘blockage’ of the M25 and that there was already a tailback of 6 miles. Our sat. nav. offered us a detour which we took and found ourselves driving past Heathrow Airport. It was an interesting detour but we soon got on to the M1 which was fabulously bereft of traffic. It was almost as if, deus ex machina, some one had hoovered up all the traffic and given us a 1960’s motorway.

We were back in our shoe box by lunchtime and hoovering, repainting the walls, etc. My job was to clean the windows but, when we got there, a professional team of cleaners were cleaning the windows. Apparently, it was all part of the service charge which we didn’t pay. This was the first time the windows had been cleaned in five months.

When we were really tired we went off to our hotel – Premier Inn, Brighouse – which is quite delightful and has a nice restaurant attached. We have a lovely room for three nights.

6th April, 2011

Today I have reached a milestone I never thought would happen. I always believed I had Dad’s genes and that I would die young. Of course, I may well still do so but I have managed to reach 60 years old. Every time I drive past Junction 28 on the M1, I shout, ‘Hello Mum’. Now I can salute Dad with my achievement of three score years. My next target is the extra ten. It is the most glorious day reaching nearly 70F with lots of Spring sunshine. Pauline & I are celebrating my birthday with a pork pie and bottle of wine picnic. Tomorrow we will take friends out to Dinner. Tonight it is Chelsea – Man. U.

Couldn’t have had a better birthday present than United’s destruction of Chelsea. I thought Torres showed himself for what he really is. He couldn’t even dive convincingly.

7th April, 2011

Today  we have to post our parcels to Greece. They collectively weigh about 80 kgs.

Parcelforce will charge us about £200.00 and have them in the Post Office in Sifnos a couple of days before we get there.

After going to the Post Office, we had underweighed our parcels on the bathroom scales by a total of 20kgs but because we are regular customers – this is our eleventh year – they found a really cheap consignment deal which still only cost £200.00. The boxes will get to Sifnos next Wednesday.

After the Post Office, we went on to Santander to buy our next ISAs. We bought our full cash allowance – 2 x £5340.00. It makes us feel righteous by salting some capital away. It was amazing how many people were buying ISAs. Santander were finding it difficult to keep up.

After Santander, we went down to say goodbye for the final time to our old next door neighbour, Jean. That was lovely in the scorching, hot sun and we drove back feeling good to our hotel.

After a shower and a cup of tea, we went out to Ciao Bella to meet our old friends, Viv and Margaret. We had a wonderful meal of Italian salad, Bresola and Bruschetta as a starter followed by Chicken and steak with various salads. Over three bottles of wine, our memories and conversations were emotional. We vowed to meet again at our house in Greece. We drove back to our hotel for our final night in Yorkshire.

8th April, 2011

This morning we drove down to the Letting Agents, Martin & Co. We were supposed to be having a review of the shoebox prior to getting our deposit back but they contacted us to say that we were such good tenants, a review would not be necessary. We drove down to give back the keys. We retrieved our deposit on the web from The Deposit Protection Scheme.

Today is like mid summer – hot, clear blue skies – and seems wholly appropriate for the first day of the next stage of our lives, as Pauline said. We go back to our Hotel room to pack up and leave for Surrey. The motorway is quite busy today and aggressive. The bright light seems to be sending drivers bonkers. Even so, we arrive in West Byfleet in three and a half hours. It has been a stressful and quite emotional few days. We are both shattered. After a cup of tea, we set about our final arrangements before leaving for Greece. We contacted British Gas to pay our final gas & electricity bills for the shoebox. Pauline had forward accounted £450.00 based on our previous house’s experience. It actually came to £120.00. Every time we go to Greece, we forewarn Mastercard and Visa so they don’t get suspicious about our spending. We also had to inform them of our change of address.

9th April, 2011

Three years ago today, we set off for Manchester Airport and got caught in a blizzard. Cars were skidding off the M62 and crashing into the embankments all around. It was actually terrifying particularly because we had set off with Greek sun in our minds. Needless to say, we did get to the airport and flew off to the sun but what a contrast. Today is scorching sun and clear blue skies in Surrey. 73F is predicted and, by 8.00 this morning, Brighton beach was packed with sun lovers as the BBC illustrated.

We are dropping some final things off at our new apartment, having the car cleaned, filling the tank and preparing for the off. Instead of driving from Surrey at 4.00 in the morning, we’ve booked a room at the Travelodge which is 15 minutes from the Tunnel and will allow us at least another hour in bed.

28th March, 2011

Another gorgeous day. This time next week, we move house. Two weeks today we set off for Greece. Up early and out into town. We had to visit three banks: Lloyds TSB, Barclays and Natwest. Lloyds TSB was a scruffy and depressing old building but we were served by delightful people who took the utmost care. Barclays was pedantic, slow, awkward and annoying. Natwest was excellent and extremely efficient. All we wanted each bank to do was send a sum of money to our solicitor using CHAPS (Clearing House Automated Payment System) and another to our own account using BACS (Bankers’ Automated Clearing Services). Should be simple but turned out to send Bank people into a complete panic. Moving £100,000.00 blocks of money terrified them. I thought they would be doing it all every day. They do work in a bank!

The money has gone to our Solicitor’s Client Account and will be exchanged on Thursday at 1.00 pm as we get our keys. We have never met our solicitor and almost certainly never will because they are in Portsmouth. Their name doesn’t exactly inspire confidence because they are called Coffin Mew LLB but you can’t have everything.

29th March, 2011

We took the car for a pre-Greek Trip check. Being such good customers, it is always free. I doubt that will pertain when we move south. We said goodbye to the staff from who we’ve bought a new car almost every year for twenty five years.

A second round with the banks this morning. Today we transferred all the interest out of the temporary accounts. Interestingly, £100,000.00 in a bog standard, instant access, deposit account for nine months in Lloyds TSB returned £900.00 in interest. The same amount for the same time in Barclays only returned £680.00 and in Nat. West, only £720.00. The Barclays & Lloyds accounts were purely temporary until we bought a new property. We closed them completely today. The Nat. West account was first opened by Pauline in 1968. Currently our private adviser/account manager is a lad I taught and who left our school some twenty years ago. Whenever we have wanted a facility, Nat West have always complied. We are reluctant to leave but there is no point in having an account based in Oldham. When we return in October, we will have to address that. In just the same way, our wills are deposited with our Huddersfield solicitors. Bob has a copy. Pauline’s niece has a copy. The Huddersfield ones will have to be moved.

Went for our final trip to the Health Club, had a lovely swim, jacuzzi and steam room session and then spent the afternoon contacting all sorts of organisations from investment firms to service suppliers to inform them of our change of address.

30th March, 2011

Up early because we are driving to Surrey. Tomorrow is ‘Exchange’ day. After weeks of warm, dry, sunny weather, today is dull and damp and heavy rain is forecast. The M1 was quiet and the journey uneventful. We did it in 4hrs which is as good as it gets. The weather was warm and sunny until we reached the M25 when the rain came. After a sandwich with Phyllis & Colin, we went down to our development. It looked good and we will be happy to get the keys tomorrow. We drove back to West Byfleet in high spirits until we got caught in a bit of a traffic jam. We had been parked there for a couple of minutes when – Bang – a sharp shove from behind rocked us forward. An Asian lad had lost concentration and run in to the back of us. Pauline & I looked at each other and both of us thought – Oh No! We’re driving to Greece in ten days. – as we jumped out of the car. On the basis of the noise and movement, we expected to see major damage to the car. Miraculously, there wasn’t even a scintilla of a scratch. The plastic bumper had absorbed the impact but sustained no damage even to its paint finish. We could not believe it. For some time, we continued to stare at, feel, stare at, feel the bumper until we could do it no longer. We’d had a lucky escape in our almost brand new car.

We decided to go out for an early dinner at a local Italian Restaurant – Ponte Vecchio – in West Byfleet. It is a delightfully informal trattoria.

31st March, 2011

Off to our Development to get the keys today. First we have a ‘Familiarisation Meeting’ to teach us how to live in an apartment. After we have the keys, we will need to check that all the white goods are working properly, that the toilets and showers and the heating is working properly. Most people will have another check after living in their apartment for a month. Unfortunately, the burglar alarm has not yet been fitted and that is crucial.

The keys were handed over at 1.00 pm as the solicitor phoned me to say the money had been paid. The burglar alarm man turned up and we now know it will be fitted before we leave for Greece. We spent the afternoon trying out the taps, sockets, showers, oven, fridge-freezer, lights, etc. We have to write a snagging list. We parked our car in the underground car park and checked out the huge store cupboard we can store our wine in.

1st April, 2011

These photos show the development and the second one outlines our property. Underneath the building is the car park where we have a specific parking bay and a large, secure storage area.

The blind lady called at 12.00 pm to fit the blinds and we left to drive back to Yorkshire at 2.30 pm. Friday afternoon is not a good time on the M1 and there were a number of accidents and hold-ups but we got back by 6.30 pm and finished a tiring day with a Chinese takaway – the first for months.

2nd April, 2011

Got up this morning and thought, with some trepidation, about the bumpy fortnight we’ve got ahead. It starts in the shoe box in Huddersfield – getting our chattels ready for the Removers by 6.00 am on Monday and ends two weeks today as we drive up to our house on Sifnos. In between, we will drive up and down the M1 three times, drive the length of Europe, stay in five hotels, sail down the Adriatic, drive across the Peloponnese and sail across the Aegean. Exciting but tiring. We finished off the four boxes being posted to Greece and began to plan for the removal.

20th March, 2011

A lovely day with sun and blue sky for the Spring Equinox with the Sunday papers. Found two cracking photos – a spineless hedgehog with a homemade jacket and a very friendly robin – while researching something else. Thought you might like to see them:

 21st March, 2011

Athens is still in the grip of the unions as the government tries valiantly to press on with privatisation.  It means that public transport is constantly disrupted. Medical services, pharmacies, legal services, schools and universities are all subject to strikes and protests. At the moment, garbage is piling up in the streets and a series of general strikes are planned to paralyse the country. To add to the woes, strong winds have closed down all the ports today.

22nd March, 2011

Another lovely Spring day. What is happening to the British weather? It is unbearably good. Had a look round our local park today. We’ve lived here for eleven years and never been in to it. The main reason was because it was so run down that it didn’t look very inviting. The Greenhead Park is the main park in Huddersfield and has been open to the public of Huddersfield since 1884. It was created on land which was originally open fields, and was used for public meetings, concerts, galas, firework displays, and even balloon landings. On opening, the Park offered a range of genteel pursuits for visitors, including a series of five ornamental lakes and lakeside viewing arbours, a bandstand, the ornamental bedding and fountain of the Italian Gardens, together with a raised terrace which was planned for the construction of a glass pavilion.

Sadly, the park had deteriorated by the time we moved near to it. It was, perhaps two or three miles from our house and closer to the town. The grand, stone houses of the rich merchants of nineteenth century Huddersfield were being split up and turned into student lets for the University. The wonderful, glass pavilion was in a state of disrepair to the point of near collapse. Suddenly, £5.5 million was found from the Heritage Lottery Fund.  The work began 18 months ago and are due to be completed by July. We won’t be here to see it. We went to see where they were up to:

23rd March, 2011

The Spring weather just gets better. Yesterday afternoon touched 20F and today promises even more. March is looking as if it could be the driest on record here in Yorkshire. Fortunately, Sifnos appears to have had a really wet winter. The underground aquifers should be nicely full to guarantee a reliable water source for the rest of the year.

As it was so lovely outside, we took the car to be cleaned and polished – only £6.00 – and then came back to the shoe box to clean and vacuum the inside. It’s only three months old and only done 3000 miles so the job was easy and enjoyable. With the temperature reaching 18F, it was quite warm work outside.

24th March, 2011

Pauline & I haven’t rented any type of property since the early 1970s. The last five months in a rented shoebox has been interesting but STRANGE. One thing has changed since our student days. Protection for the tenant is much improved. We have been the first tenants in a new-build, two bedroomed, unfurnished flat. It has fridge-freezer, dishwasher, washer-dryer, oven and hob and costs a snip at £550.00 per month. We paid six months rent up front and are leaving one month early so we are hoping to get a month’s rent refunded. We also paid a £650.00 bond/deposit at the outset. Nowadays, this is not just additional rent for an unscrupulous landlord. The money goes in to an official deposit scheme which has to have the agreement of both landlord and tenant before the money is re-released. One week tomorrow we will hand back the keys and claim our deposit back.

25th March, 2011

Shopping day today after an early morning Diabetic Clinic with our wonderful doctor. She provided me with a prescription to cover all necessary medication for six months. Off to Sainsburys where the chemist could not cope with the size of my prescription. We left with one carrier bag full and another one to collect on Monday. On to the garden centre to buy bags of seed potatoes and onion sets to take to Greece.

After lunch I took Pauline to the Beauty Parlour to have a facial before I take her to Sassoons tomorrow to have her hair cut. We had to rush home to allow a viewing of the shoebox. We took a phone call from a friend and ex-colleague of ours in which we discussed the recent fallout from the achievement of Academy Status of our old school and another across the town. After the early redundancies which we took advantage of, such prospects appeared to have been shut off to others. Then the Coalition announced austerity measures. Our Academy escaped by the skin of its teeth. Suddenly, the money has started to dry up and 30% of the staff are going to be ‘dispensed with’. Who knows on what terms?

26th March, 2011

Another early morning start – off to Leeds – to take Pauline to Vidal Sassoons for her hair cut. I had a nice hour reading the papers while she paid up £64.00 to have her hair trimmed. We will have to go to Athens for the next one in June. That will cost £100.00 just for the ferry. I’ve offered to cut her hair myself but she didn’t seem keen. Pauline has a ‘Top Stylist’, whatever that means, and when we move, the nearest Sassoons is Sloane Street, London where the equivalent stylist will cost £120.00. The last time I went to the barber, it cost 10 shillings.